Archive for the ‘Royalty Rates’ Category

Bayer loses patent royalty claim on claim construction

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Europe’s largest drug and chemical maker, Bayer AG, lost another effort to collect patent royalties from a competitor.  Bayer claims certain arthritis drugs violate a patent for antibodies against tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, an immune-cell protein linked to inflammation.

This time around, Bayer, which sued in 2009, conceded that Johnson & Johnson’s Simponi product isn’t infringing its patent under an interpretation of “human monoclonal antibodies” issued by a federal judge last month.  Bayer’s claim to royalties on sales of the rheumatoid arthritis drug , terminated last friday, could be revived if it wins its appeal of the ruling.

Earlier this month, Bayer made the same concession in a suit against Abbott Laboratories, maker of the arthritis drug Humira.

Bloomberg reported Oliver Renner, a Bayer spokesman, said after the Abbott ruling that the concesion was “a procedural step in order to allow a quick appeal” of the earlier determination on the definition of the phrase.  Moreover, the prestigious business publication reported Brian Kenney, a spokesman for J&J’s Centocor Ortho Biotech unit, saying the company agreed “…with the judge’s ruling related to the claim construction and remain confident that it will be sustained on appeal” .

The case is Bayer Healthcare LLC v. Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc., 09cv11362, and the Abbott case is Abbott Laboratories v. Bayer Healthcare LLC, 09cv40002, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Worcester).

M&A: Evaluating a Target with IP Rights

Friday, January 28th, 2011
David Drews, CLP (IPmetrics LLC) has an upcoming publication which will cover this topic, among other related intellectual property issues.

The publication will address one of the primary vehicles used by companies interested in growth: the acquisition of or merger with a separate company.

In more and more instances, the decision to go ahead in M&As hinges on the intellectual property (“IP”) that the target company owns or controls.

In this publication, David Drews will explore the impact that intellectual property as an asset class has on M&A activity, the various forms of intellectual property that may be important or attractive to an acquirer, and the methods necessary for properly evaluating a takeover or merger target.

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